Bonum Certa Men Certa

127th Session of ILO Tribunal Rulings Will Deal With European Patent Organisation Complaints (Appeals) Tomorrow Afternoon, Staff Grows Tired of Office President António Campinos

Summary: Tribunal decisions regarding EPO staff, in light of perceived bias at the Tribunal, are less than a day away; there are signs that groups of examiners are starting a soft rebellion again

THE European Patent Office (EPO) will be abuzz tomorrow. What's known informally as the "flier team" (FLIER rather, there's a history to this name/acronym, going a long way back) has just published "EPO-FLIER 43" and it takes off the gloves in dealing with António Campinos, as did SUEPO earlier this month. Patience is running out.



Earlier today SUEPO added links to two articles that we mentioned here before and cited this new letter to Campinos, written in French (he is French) [PDF]. It is from Union Syndicale Fédérale. Translation/s soon? Hopefully.

Here is what the "flier team" wrote:

27 November 2018

FLIER No. 43

The EPO-FLIER wants to provide staff with uncensored, independent information at times of social conflict

Is micromanagement a sign that a leader is out of his depth?



“Many managers are unable to let go of their old job or their old ways of doing their job.” This is the conclusion drawn in a “Harvard Business Review” article by Ron Ashkenas. He goes on to write that

“... at higher levels managers usually need to dial down their operational focus and learn how to be more strategic. To do so, managers have to trust their people to manage day-to-day operations and coach them as needed, rather than trying to do it for them. For many managers, this is a difficult transition and they unconsciously continue to spend time in the more comfortable operational realm of their subordinates.”1

In the same article, Ashkenas writes that anxious managers “seek information in as many ways as possible — through reports, meetings, and one-on-one conversations.” Does this sound familiar?

The new president’s recent decision2,3 to approve every mission, except some inter-site missions, personally, is micromanagement. The signal it sends is that highly paid vice-presidents and principal directors, all managing budgets of millions, are incapable of judging whether a trip for duty travel is justified. Objectively, without taking any particularities into account, it is very unlikely that the president will understand the background for a trip in more detail than the line manager. A principal director or vice-president will presumably also be close enough to draw a conclusion on whether the trip fits in with the overall office strategy. If the president is right and some of the middle managers did take poor decisions, then surely the bigger problem is the manager concerned, not the decision to send people on specific trips.

Yes, for sure, there is a case for the president being involved in defining the overall travel strategy, the aims and the goals and for setting a budget. But should he be involved in deciding each individual trip? Really?4

We are surprised and worried by the president taking this path. It is counterproductive to building trust. We hope it will remain an isolated incident and that the new president will demonstrate more willingness to leave operational management of the office at management levels below him.

This is not, however, all. If we accept that it is the president’s right to decide every mission personally, the next question is to look at his implementation of the new procedure. He could have said what he wanted and given instructions for everything to be in place by, say, January 2019. This would have left some time for staff and managers to get used to the idea, and for the office to put new procedures in place for the necessary administration. Instead of taking this line, he insisted that the new procedure should take immediate effect, putting hundreds of trips into question, leaving staff unaware of whether they would be travelling or not, and leaving many of the EPO’s outside partners in the dark as to whether the EPO delegation was going to turn up for meetings that had been in the calendar for months.

This stubbornness has put the office’s reputation in jeopardy and smacks of a prima donna side to our president which cannot be in the interests of the office or the organisation.

Again, we hope we are wrong. We hope our new president is neither a micromanager, nor a prima donna. And we fervently hope he is not out of his depth at a time when we need fantastic rather than mediocre leadership.

______ 1 “Why people micromanage”, by Ron Ashkenas, https://hbr.org/2011/11/why-people-micromanage 2 Travels cancelled, R.I.P. Kat..., (https://rip-kat.blogspot.com/), 11.10.2018 3 “Responsible travel planning”, announcement of the president, 16.10.2018 4 In his communiqué the president himself claims that only 1 in 100 missions was finally cancelled



We wrote about the above citations before, but we have not seen the relevant/corresponding communiqué (perhaps someone can send that to us).

As the latest anonymous comments reveal, this president is now treated as part of the problem. One comment said (quoting an official statement): "constructive dialogue: „to remove causes of criticism“???? Wow! Am I the only one, noticing the euphemism?"

So this president just wants to silence his critics rather than address the underlying issues. These issues include union-busting actions (Bergot is still doing so), low patent quality, and staff morale.

Will there be a union-related decision tomorrow? In about half a day from now the Tribunal of ILO has a chance to show everyone (yet again) that it is a laughing stock in the face of EPO corruption and abuses.

There's a comment to that effect (below) and some readers told us about this as well:

The EPO in the spotlight at ILO-AT next week again

http://www.ilo.org/tribunal/news/WCMS_650150/lang–en/index.htm

127th Session – Exceptional public delivery

The Tribunal will exceptionally deliver in public three judgments adopted at its 127th Session separately and earlier than the remaining 74 judgments also adopted at the same session.

The three judgments concern an application for interpretation and review of Judgment 3928 filed by the Universal Postal Union and an application for execution of that judgment (AT4731 and 4743), one case against the European Patent Organisation (AT 3547) and one application for execution of Judgment 3871 against the World Health Organization (AT 4757) (the parties concerned have been informed). The Tribunal has considered for various reasons that those judgments should be delivered rapidly.

They will be announced in public on Wednesday 28 November 2018 at 3 pm at the ILO (Room XI, floor R2) and will be published on the Tribunal’s website (ilo.org/trib) shortly after the public delivery.

The remaining judgments adopted at the 127th Session will be delivered in public on Wednesday 6 February 2019.

Geneva, 20 November 2018

Dražen Petrović, Registrar


"AT 3547 was a decision in 2017 concerning UNIDO," one last comment noted. "Has the tribunal notification contained an error? Current decisions are numbered around 4700 (see the other decisions cited)."

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Apple is the Company of Dictators and Worse
Apple is just another greedy corporation in search of sweatshops and even pedophiles (especially the high-profile ones)
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens
Everything here will persist as normal
The "Infinite Bread"
The biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has software parallels
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time
The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
Microsoft's LinkedIn is Losing Money, Traffic, and Hope; Now It Wants to Sell Its Users' Lifeblood (and Data)
Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With
4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
Richard Stallman Back at the "Rudolf-Diesel" Hörsal "MW 2001" in About 40 Hours
He spoke there before; there's a very high seating capacity there
 
Links 20/10/2025: Louvre Museum Reveals Weakness, About 7 Million Protest US Turning Into Oligarchy/Monarchy
Links for the day
They Should Have Listened to Techrights Over a Month Earlier (Xubuntu Site Compromised)
we reported this issue about 40 days earlier and nobody did anything about it
Richard Stallman to Give Another Talk Today in Bavaria (Bavarian Academy of Science)
Tomorrow at 6 PM he speaks in Munich
Barry Kauler Explains That Puppy Linux and EasyOS Exclude Systemd to Keep Things Simple
Barry Kauler's Puppy Linux is in the community's hands. He now focuses on EasyOS and more.
Half a Year After Brian Fagioli Got Kicked Out of BetaNews for Slop He's Still Doing LLM Slop and Slop Images Targeting 'Linux' (Plagiarising Original Works)
If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 19, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
Campaign of FUD Against Framework Laptops and GNU/Linux (Using Microsoft's Attack on Linux, 'Secure Boot')
Ritual Defamation Cult has turned its attention over to Framework
Liberation From 'The Feed'
They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
Microsoft's Killing of Vista 10 Seems to Have Resulted in More Articles About GNU/Linux (But Also FUD)
We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles
Today (a Day Before Richard Stallman Talk at TUM) There's a Patent Propaganda Event at TUM
Perhaps an opportunity for Dr. Stallman to rebut this "invention to patent" nonsense/fantasy (conflating monopolies with innovation)
OpenSource or "Open Source" as a Brand is Dying, Let's Get Back to Talking About Software Freedom
Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
19 Years in Numbers: Techrights' Anniversary Countdown and Retrospective
In 2019 we began improving our workflows and, accordingly/predictably, we became a lot more productive
Slop Turns People Off (LLMs Lack Intelligence, They're Just Plagiarism Powerhouses That Fail to Deliver Any Real, Measurable Value)
"More" (or "MOAR") isn't always better
IBM Red Hat Has Re-calibrated or Adjusted to Bubble Economics, False Promises, and Slop/Plagiarism
This won't end well
Fake Numbers, Fake Claims, Fake Economy, and Media Grifters That Prop Up Fraud
Grifters like The Register MS won't be looked upon kindly after the bubble implodes
For Some, the GNU Web Site is Not Accessible This Week
They seem to have gone into some kind of lock-down mode
Symptoms of Upcoming Microsoft Layoffs in XBox
A crashing franchise
Psychiatrist confession: Germanwings crash & Debian toxic culture recognized before suicides
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: Scentjacking 101, Slop Hype Boosters, and Steam Next Fest
Links for the day
Slopwatch: The Serial Slopper, LinuxSecurity, and Google News
Let's hope slopfarms die as soon as possible
Links 19/10/2025: Cambodia Scam Centres, Slop Hurting Wikipedia Traffic
Links for the day
As Economies Crumble Free as in Beer Will Matter, Not Just Free as in Freedom/Libre (Libertad)
French regions choosing to embrace Software Freedom
25 Years Ago, an Explanation of How Reducing Free Software to 'Apps' Would Interfere With Freedom Goals
there's nothing unreasonable about it
A List of 63 Known Gemini Clients (Software to Browse Geminispace Content With Gemini Protocol)
Not counting browser plugins for Web browsers
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: "Firma Odin Is Transforming" and Bot Attacks While "AFK"
Links for the day
US Government: 6.1% of Site Visitors Use GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has a considerable share and it is growing
LLM Slop Could Not Rise to Prominence Without Media Complicity and Artificial Hype
Inane garbage disguised as "journalism"
Why the FSF No Longer Recommends Debian, as Explained by Richard Stallman This Month
some weeks ago
All the Latest Half Dozen Articles by Mehedi Hasan (UbuntuPIT) Only Admit at the End That He's Using LLM Slop
Disclosure is OK, but the practice of using slop is not
The 'Modern' Web of Fake Security and Easy Censorship of Whole Domains
Each year it gets worse
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 18, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, October 18, 2025
The Term "AI" is Not New and What Today's Media Calls "AI" Isn't Even AI
Only the hype was new... and totally artificial
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: "Planetary Rings", Steam, and PSU Replacement
Links for the day
Defeating LLM Abuse (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) in the Area of Linux and GNU, Free Software, BSD, Security and So On
The aim is to get them to stop using LLMs to rip off other people's work
Links 18/10/2025: Russell Vought in Charge, US Government Leans to Russia Again
Links for the day
Credit Where It's Due: LinuxConfig.org Quit Doing LLM Slop, Back to Original and Real Articles
We waited for a while to say this, now it seems conclusive
Of Note: UbuntuPIT Aware of Critics of Slop, Adds Disclosure of Use of LLMs
We appreciate the honesty
Links 18/10/2025: Madagascar's President Flees and ICE Arrests Protest Comedian Robby Roadsteamer
Links for the day
Richard Stallman Near the European Patent Office (EPO) in 3 Days From Now
It'll be a good opportunity for patent examiners to listen, ask questions, and maybe greet him in person
From Scholar to Booster of Slop (and Even Slop in His Own Blog)
We're going to keep an eye on future posts of his
End of Vista 10 Also Good News for the BSDs
There are many news sites that recommend trying GNU/Linux this month
What's Wrong With Liking Parrots or Birds as Pets?
They'd demonise people for speaking about freedom, no matter what they say or do
Digital Sanitation Good Practices
leave behind Microsoftism
10 Days Ago Richard Stallman Gave a Long Interview in French (linuxfr.org)
English translation
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food
The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
The Free Software Foundation, Which Has Appointed a 43-Year-Old President, is Looking to Add Another Board Member (or Treasurer)
expect the FSF to add more people
Richard Stallman Confirms Next Week's Talk at Technical University of Munich, We Urge EPO Staff to Attend
That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut
Links for the day
Many Red Hat People Are Leaving, But It'll Be Framed Publicly as Leaving IBM
Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
Expect More Waves of Microsoft Layoffs This Month (at Least Two Rounds Confirmed Already)
From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 17, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025